Dive into your creative stream
Just watched the last philosophy tube. It is excellent, but there is a minor point that bugged me a little, so I thought I'd exorcised it by making a post. (Yes, I know, random tumblr user has notes for extremely successful youtuber, more at 6)
So around minute 9, she talks bout how a strict legal definition is not necessary in order to protect women. The example given is the one of hate crimes: If an applicant for a job is rejected on the grounds that they are perceived as a woman, it does not matter whether or not they are a woman. The employer is still guilty of illegal discrimination. Good point. A bit later in the video, she brings up the fact that in the UK, trans women are jailed in men's prisons. The point made is that trans women are labelled as dangerous to other inmates without any evidence of this danger. Also a good point.
But this is an example of when one does need a working definition of women, since prison are segregated by gender. Moreover, a definition is needed in order to protect women, since as she puts it "this policy makes prison significantly worse for a segment of the population".
I started typing about how we use categories as shorthands for the diversity of humans experience for practical reasons, even though no strict definition will work 100% of the time, and about the consequence of this, which is that any defnition used should be chosen while keeping in mind why this gender segregation exists, what does it seek to accomplish, and whether or not gender is the most appropriate criteria.Then I remembered that Mia Mulder has an excellent video on this about women's sport, so I'll just put it there.
I find it hard to write about this subject without getting sucked into tangents (which perhaps explains why it is glossed over in the video). Just writing this, I looked up how the gender segregation in prison worked in my country, then the overpopulation in women's facilities, then the overpopulation in general (114% occupancy rate, third worse in the EU), then the rise in the carceral population and its de-correlation with the crime rate, then the expeditive measures being adopted which will without a doubt make things worse as the Olympics Games loom ever closer (no prizes for guessing which country that is).
I also know that I am getting a bit internet-poisoned because I fought the urge to pre-emptively answer every bad faith argument that could possibly be made, so I'll cut it short. Let me reiterate. I fully agree with the points that are made in the video. I understand that time is a factor in what is and is not included in a video. I just wish this particular point was made a little better.